Grace and Ellie

Here is the latest...we've been a bit crazed...more later!

Guangzhou...Yeah!

And here it is....
The smile!

Here we are at the pool at the White swan...nice enough for feet...but that's it for this wimp!

We Arrived in Guangzhou late last night and have been playing a little catch up today. The weather is warm here; about 80 degrees and humid. Quite a change from Nanjing. The Hotel is just like we remember it and it feels sort of like a reunion of sorts. I can close my eyes and it feels like we were just here getting Ellie.

Grace is making amazing progress this week. She was so shy on Monday; all she wanted to do was be held...slowly she is opening up and every new little thing she does just delights us. Ellie continues to be a great big sister...though she has decided that now is a good time to put Mommy and Daddy to the patience test!

We have a free day tomorrow and plan to roam around the city here and enjoy the weather....hope you are all doing well...we love hearing from you!

Loving the girls and Nanjing

Thursday...tour of Nanjing with the kiddos

We went on a tour of Nanjing today and had a great time at the Brocade Museum and City Wall. We finished the day with a celebration at a local Chinese restaurant. One of my favorite meals of all time...super spicy..Yumm!

Cutie Pies

Grace with her favorite toy...a little Chinese hand drum.

Visiting Grace's Orphanage

The Orphanage Visit

We got the chance to visit Grace's orphanage yesterday. It was very good to see but emotional. We could see that Grace was very loved by her Half the Sky Grandmother and by other nannies as well. We got a chance to ask questions and take pictures. Grace's crib was a part of a large grouping of cribs so she had three friends sleeping close....

I think about how different life is for our little Grace now. She is spending most of her time making sure we are still near her. She loves to be held, but we are working on floor time and walking and she is doing well with that, though it always ends with her back in our arms holding on tighter than you can imagine.

Though we were happy to see where Grace had been cared for, walking her out of there for the last time made my heart leap.